Reflections of South Carolina

Tom Poland

• Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781570033445
• eBook ISBN: 9781611174489
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Photography

A pictorial display of South Carolina's extravagant beauty

Truly a book that will captivate newcomers and renew the appreciation of longtime residents, this breathtaking photographic exploration showcases the fullness of the state's regional diversity, natural beauty, and human creativity. Two hundred color photographs record South Carolina's people and places, architecture and terrain, flora and fauna, past and progress. With a remarkable ability to capture the splendor and spirit of the land and its inhabitants, Robert C. Clark's photographs and Tom Poland's text craft a work of artistry and magnificence. A foreword by South Carolina historian Walter Edgar complements the photographs.

From the forests and white-water rivers of the mountains to the cypress swamps of the coastal plain, South Carolina's natural wonders shine forth. The state's diverse geography and wealth of rivers, lakes, streams, and marshes are depicted along with such sights as an early Upstate snowfall, vibrantly colored wildflowers, a live oak tunnel near Edisto Island, and cypress needles on a Carolina bay.

South Carolina artisans and performers are featured, as are cityscapes, the technological achievements of the state's industries, and its numerous recreational opportunities. The volume includes historic landmarks such as the State House, Midleton Place, Wilcox Inn, and the slave tenement at the Aiken-Rhett House, and less prominent structures—gristmills, farmhouses, general stores, and the state's last covered bridge. The photographs show people enjoying music and cultural events; re-creating the Revolutionary and Civil War; casting, crabbing, and shrimping along the coast; and hot air ballooning.

Reflections of SOUTH CAROLINA

Off Highway 21, near Frogmore on St. Helena Island, palmettos catch the first rays striking the coast. The South Carolina state tree is the cabbage, or sabal, palm. Some palmettos can grow as high as sixty feet and live for seventy-five years.

Jets of water cool a trio of children at Charleston’s Waterfront Park. Cool breezes, great views of the Cooper River, and the Pineapple Fountain have made this new park an instant success with natives and visitors to the city.

Beneath painted clouds amber sea oats stand guard over the Folly Beach dune line. These golden oats inspired European explorers to name the Georgia–South Carolina barrier islands the Golden Isles.

Hunting Island received its name in the eighteenth century from the abundance of game that inhabited it. The Beaufort County island is now one of the state’s busiest parks, but careful management preserves its primeval beauty. Palmettos and the rising moon call to mind South Carolina’s state flag.

The morning sun turns to gold the blue-green Atlantic waters at Springmaid Beach, Horry County.

Golden asters have found shelter behind the first line of sand dunes at Hunting Island State Park in Beaufort County. State law and local ordinances protect the dunes so that they can preserve the shoreline.

Before 1900, farmland and a cotton gin distinguished Myrtle Beach, then called New Town. Today miles of hotels accommodate visitors to Horry County’s Grand Strand and the beach named for its once-abundant crape myrtles.

Before air conditioning, rockers and screen porches were standard household appliances in the Low-country. At Pawleys Island in Georgetown County they have never been replaced. In antebellum days the island was a summer retreat from the “sickly season.” Today visitors savor its quiet no-frills beach recreation, and residents proclaim its “arrogantly shabby” appearance.

Colorful catamarans lie on the beach near Springmaid Pier at Myrtle Beach. As the day’s heat builds, so do the winds, which the catamarans and wooden fences exploit. While the catamarans catch the wind to ride the ocean, the fences catch blowing sand to build and preserve dunes.

The Ocean Course is one of four internationally famous golf courses on Kiawah Island, south of Charleston. Designed by Pete Dye, the Ocean Course opened in 1991. It has hosted Ryder Cup and World Cup of Golf matches and boasts the greatest number of oceanside fairways in the nation.

Many South Carolinians and most visitors spend some time at one of the state’s Atlantic coast beaches. Here at Seacrest Resort, Myrtle Beach, visitors quickly get comfortable in the sun and surf.

Sunrise along the coast near Beaufort strikes shrimp trawlers already long at work. Shrimping is traditiona...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Copyright
• Contents
• South Carolina: The Presence of the Past
• Reflections of South Carolina
• Acknowledgments
• Index